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Online Seminar: Email Newsletter Reinvention & Improvement - A Hands-On Workshop For Your Newsletter

C.S. Dragonwyck

Announcing our next online presentation of this seminar:

Aug. 20th & 27th, 2008; 12:15 - 1:45 pm (Pacific Time, USA)

Email newsletters have become a mainstream practice in much of civil society. But very few of these newsletters have reached their full potential as tools for building and leveraging relationships with donors, volunteers, and other stakeholders. Many are impaired by common mistakes and most don't achieve clearly defined objectives. Over the course of two weeks and two seminar sessions, we will help you:

identify and fix your newsletter's most damaging mistakes
identify and build upon your newsletter's greatest strengths
get structured feedback from other nonprofit professionals who produce newsletters
create your own practical methodology and checklist for newsletter improvement
develop both short term and long term improvement plans

This seminar, despite being online, will offer collaborative, hands-on analysis of your newsletter, leveraging the insights of both students and instructors. This seminar is right for you if you're looking for practical improvements to your newsletter and a framework for continued betterment.

Attracting More Website Visitors: Traffic-Building Tips for Nonprofits - Webinar on 7/30/08

C.S. Dragonwyck

So you have a website. Now what?

Learn how to get people to visit it during this Nonprofit Marketing Guide.com webinar.

"Attracting More Website Visitors: Traffic-Building Tips for Nonprofits"

Wednesday, July 30, 2008
2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern (11:00 AM Pacific)

Via a User-Friendly, Toll-Free Webinar Service

Registration is $35 per connection. You can have multiple people around the speaker phone and computer monitor at no extra charge!

We'll discuss the tools most likely to work for small and medium-sized nonprofits -- in other words, what you can do with little money or technical expertise to bring more visitors to your site:

- Search engine optimization. Increasing the odds search engines send people your way.

- Linking strategies. How to get links on other websites.

- Content strategies. How what you put on your site can drastically affect your traffic.

- Advertising. Should you pay for links to your site?

- Social bookmarking. How tools like Digg and StumbleUpon can create big bursts of visitors.

- Integration with everything else you do. The importance of not letting your website sit out there on its own.

We'll boil everything down into a one-hour overview, so you'll understand your options and know how to pick what will work for your organization. We'll also look at the websites of several participants during the webinar, so you can see how to apply what you are hearing to real-world situations.

Online Seminar: Frictionless Fundraising (Aug. 6)

C.S. Dragonwyck

An Online Seminar on the Essentials of Internet Fundraising

Announcing our next online presentation of this seminar:

August 6th, 2008; 8:30 am - 2:45 pm (PDT)

The Internet has the potential to bring the art and science of fundraising back into balance, restore the confidence and trust of donors, and deeply enhance the relationships our organizations have with our stakeholders. Or it can be yet another way to alienate our supporters and disempower our fundraising professionals. The Frictionless Fundraising workshop will help you avoid the easy pitfalls and set you on a path of success.

The three section topics are:

Save Money and Make Money by Converting your Donors to Email
Ten Ways to Improve Cultivation and Stewardship of Donors
Effective Email Newsletters

Our online seminars are intended for the professional staff of nonprofit organizations, specifically those working in communication, fundraising, or technology. Our packages tend to be tightly focused on a particular professional field and our workshops deliver lessons that can be immediately applied within a particular professional's field of authority.

Senior Policy and External Relations Officer

C.S. Dragonwyck

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people - especially those with the fewest resources - have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

Nearly 2.5 billion people live on less than $2 a day. For one person in eight, hunger is a constant, potentially deadly, companion. The vast majority of the poor also lack access to the most basic financial services and only a tiny minority have access to the Internet. The foundation's Global Development Program is working with motivated partners to create opportunities for people to lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. Our strategy is focused. Because most of the world's poorest people rely directly on agriculture, we support efforts to help small farmers improve crop production and market access. Because loans, insurance, and savings can help people weather setbacks and build assets, we facilitate access to financial services for the poor. And because information can change lives, we support free public access to computers connected to the Internet. We also support a range of learning opportunities, including potential new areas of long-term giving, and we respond to emergencies through our Special Initiatives grantmaking.

Responsibilities:
Oversee the development of outreach strategies to key external partners for the Global Development Program, including developing country governments, donors, civil society, and the private sector aimed at increasing visibility, impact and new resources to achieve key programmatic goals
Coordinate and develop proactive strategies to deepen and leverage relationships with key regional and national partners in the developing world, especially Africa and south Asia
Manage a small external relations team, working closer in partnership with GH Policy & Advocacy and Foundation Public Policy working on the US and Europe to support overall foundation outreach in donor countries, including with NGOs and the private sector
Identify, develop and oversee a portfolio of select grants related to widening support and leveraging the impact of partnerships to support overall GD priorities
Research and analyze aid and budget allocations, decision making, and regulatory structures relevant to the broader work of the program to help determine best methods for achieving desired results to support wider mission attainment.
Track current global, regional and national economic, political, social, and other trends important to inform grant making to existing and future regions and countries where the program works.
Play a coordinating role with the respective GD teams to ensure strategic focus and understanding of the implications of current and potential grants with regard to wider foundation relationships and growing partnerships with governments and intergovernmental bodies (e.g. European Union, African Union).
Draft short issue briefs as needed for senior foundation leadership including the President, CEO and co-chairs.
Work with the Public Affairs team to develop outreach plans for listening to outside voices, sharing the Global Development teams' position and strategies and thinking working on better impact assessment.
Substitute for the Director of Policy and Advocacy where needed and represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies.

Qualifications:
An advanced degree in public policy, international relations, development or a related field.
At least 15 years experience working on a broad range of development policy issues, preferably including significant experience working in Africa and/or south Asia with a wide range of partners, including Governments, bilateral and multilateral donors,
Strong public presentation skills and ability to develop and maintain a strategy on how to maximize and leverage relationships with key Global Development policy partners (e.g. Governments, think tanks, universities, other development players).
A professional demeanor and sensitivity to social practices in other cultures.
The ability to stay calm and poised under pressure and remain focused in a rapidly changing environment.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, and a demonstrated ability to create persuasive and clear written communications.
Experience in a role requiring the ability to mentor staff and recommend necessary improvements with compassion and firmness; being willing to both give and accept feedback about performance.
Demonstrated initiative to solve problems with high energy and a positive attitude.
The ability to work effectively to deadlines.
An ability to work as part of a team.
Demonstrated commitment to the foundation's core values, mission, and programs and to serving our grantees.
The highest personal and professional integrity along with a sense of humor.
Ability to travel up to 35%.

Fundraiser's Phrase Book - The Right Words When You Need Them

C.S. Dragonwyck

Thousands of positive, action-oriented, ready-to-use phrases are at your fingertips for all your nonprofit writing projects.

The Fundraiser's Phrase Book is a large thesaurus of fundraising phrases organized by key word in easy-to-see bullet form with plenty of cross-referencing.

Designed for the nonprofit professional, the Fundraiser's Phrase book provides building blocks to help you create dynamic fundraising packages, proposals, speeches, grant applications, letters, reports, newsletters, and much more.

* Find hundreds of ways to ask for help, support, donations, gifts, contributions, aid, sponsorship, MONEY, members, volunteers, etc.
* Discover the "trigger" words that make donors reach for their cheque books.
* Choose from columns of donor-friendly salutations, signatures, clever envelope teasers and urgings your lapsed donors and members can't resist
* Communicate in a warm, one-to-one manner to get your message across with powerful emotional impact
* Ideas, ideas, ideas!! The books acts as an natural idea bank, providing hordes of ideas you can easily adapt to your needs.

AVAILABLE IN TWO EDITIONS

Standard Edition: 282 pages. Grassroots and start-up groups can add punch to fundraising material and save on the cost of consultants. ISBN 0-9680853-0-X. $34.95.

Deluxe Edition: 488 pages. Newly revised and expanded with bonus sections on the Internet, Sweepstakes and Contests, Telephone Campaigns and Thanking Donors. The choice of consultants, large organizations and those with wide-ranging, multiple needs. Pays for itself the first time it saves an hour of your valuable time.. ISBN 0-9680853-6-9. $64.95.

Associate Program Officer

C.S. Dragonwyck

* Provide ongoing research, background information and analytical support for the Senior Program Officer (SPO) to seize new opportunities and develop strategies in the agricultural development/market access area, particularly opportunities involving not-for-profit organizations and governments:
- Create analytic frameworks and execute analysis in priority areas
- Develop, execute and manage external partnerships and contracts for landscaping and other analytical work
- Identify and engage qualified subject thought leaders, technical experts, and consultants in priority areas for meetings, technical consult review, and other program activities
- Prepare regular reports and presentations for a variety of purposes and audiences
* Summarize key activities, progress and issues around priority strategy, program and advocacy issues related to Structured Demand/Market Access/Agricultural Development.
* Monitor and report on portfolio status, progress and grant expenditures to met program, foundation and legal goals.
* Provide research support to the SPO, team leadership and team members to identify opportunities for the development of strategic alliances and contribute to the development of grants, strategies, programs, and partnerships.
* Facilitate, coordinate and manage a range of projects and activities related to evaluating, developing, preparing and monitoring specific grants:
- Review grant proposals and write grant summaries and other related documents.
- Work with the SPO and others as appropriate to facilitate external reviewers for proposals.
- Coordinate monitoring and evaluation activities for a portfolio of initiatives or grants; oversee key contractors and grantees working on these issues.
- Assist in developing reviews, summaries and informative reports for the Co-Chairs and others.
* Contribute to the management of a small portfolio of agricultural development special project or conference grants, including:
- Assist grantees to develop projects and define key outcomes
- Support grantees in achieving the desired impact of grants and managing monitoring and evaluation components.
- Collaborate with team members to manage internal processes, portfolio progress, documentation, and grant budget information and reporting.
- Serve as a point of contact on portfolio-related issues for key stakeholders
- Travel as needed

* An advanced degree and professional experience which includes experience in a similar role requiring the application of research and writing skills to enhance decision-making and strategy development. An advanced degree in economics, or an agriculture-related field would be ideal.
* Experience working with agriculture in developing countries (experience living and working in developing countries as well as speaking a relevant languageÛFrench, Portuguese, or a major African language)
* Experience in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple and competing demands and establish priorities, while providing continual attention to detail in proofing materials, tracking projects and grants.
* Demonstrated excellent written and oral communication skills
* Experience in a role requiring collaboration within an organization, as well as a demonstrated ability to work with efficiency and diplomacy, particularly as part of a team effort.
* Demonstrated proficiency using MS Office

Online Seminar: Social Networking Strategies and Tactics

C.S. Dragonwyck

Announcing our next online presentation of this seminar:

Social Networking Strategies and Tactics: A Guide to Maximum Return and Minimum Lock-In

Wed., July 23rd, 2008; 12:15 - 1:45 pm (PDT)

There are social networks and then there are Social Networks. The first kind - our connections with our colleagues, our stakeholders, and our communities - are essential to organizational success. The second kind - the web based services that both support and profit from our connections - are the subject of regular conversations by every organization engaged in online communication and organizing. FaceBook, MySpace, Linked In, LiveJournal, Bebo, Orkut, Imeem, StumbleUpon, Last.fm, Friendster, Twitter, Ning, and others... Are they worth our investment as an organization? How do they affect our ability to reach our stakeholders? How can we leverage what they have to offer? How can we use them without getting locked in? In this ninety minute seminar, we'll look at these questions and help you:

Develop a rigorous framework for making decisions about any given social networking site
Design a model for using such sites that maximizes ROI and minimizes risk of lock-in
Make sure you and your stakeholders, not the social networking sites, own your relationships
Learn how to do powerful online social networking, without dependency on any of these sites
Identify the top three immediate social networking opportunities and plan to test them

Are you already communicating with many of your stakeholders online? Do leaders and others have questions about social networks? Do you yourself see some promise in them, but want to approach them smartly? If you are involved in discussions about, or have responsibility for, these questions and related decisions, then this seminar is right for you.